James Ashby and Steve Dickson at the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Washington

ABC News

America's National Rifle Association encouraged One Nation to push for weaker gun laws in Australia to make it easier for the powerful lobby group to push back against gun control efforts in the United States.

Key points:

An NRA lobbyist said softer Australian gun laws would help to resist calls for gun control in the US

James Ashby and Steve Dickson were told to focus on women's self-defence to change Australian gun laws

Senator Hanson questioned the Port Arthur massacre in one of the recordings

In one meeting in Washington DC last September, senior NRA lobbyist Brandi Graham told the pair it would be easier for the NRA to resist calls for gun control in the US if Australia had softer gun ownership laws.

"That helps us, because the biggest argument we always get from folks is, 'Well, look at Australia'," Ms Graham said.

For its investigation, Al Jazeera set up a fake gun lobby group called Gun Rights Australia whose "leader", Rodger Muller, pretended to be a grass-roots campaigner.

Meanwhile, he covertly recorded meetings that he arranged between One Nation, the NRA and other US gun lobby groups.

Footage from the secret recordings was broadcast last night in the Al Jazeera documentary How to Sell a Massacre.

How to water down gun laws? Start by targeting women

The documentary also reveals the NRA and One Nation discussed the promotion of women's self-defence as the first step in dismantling Australia's strict gun ownership laws.

At a separate meeting, another senior NRA official, Glen Caroline, advised One Nation's Mr Ashby and Mr Dickson that focusing on women being able to defend themselves was a good way to argue for weaker gun ownership laws.

"The issue that resonates well, especially with women, is telling them, 'You don't have to own a firearm, just don't let the Government tell you you can't have a firearm'," Mr Caroline told the meeting.

"Right now, you really don't have a choice. That's been legislated away from you," he advised One Nation to tell women.

The NRA has not responded to the ABC's questions about its meetings with One Nation.

The NRA was not the only pro-gun organisation to advise One Nation to target women in its efforts to change gun policies.

The One Nation pair also met Larry Keane from the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Washington, who was filmed advising them to focus on getting mothers involved in sports shooting.

Keane: "If mom is ok with it, then everyone in the family will participate. If mom is against you, dad's just not going to fight that fight, right? Let's be honest. And then the kids aren't going to be allowed to. You've got to get the moms."

Ashby: "Yeah, good advice."

Over drinks at a restaurant, the Al Jazeera undercover gun advocate, Mr Rodgers, recorded Mr Ashby and Mr Dickson discussing the strategy of focusing on women.

"You need to soften people back up again and part of it will be — let's start looking at implementing women's shooting range programs, self-defence programs," Mr Ashby said.

It put tight restrictions on ownership of semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons, a move New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is following after the Christchurch massacre in which 50 people were killed.

Mr Muller recorded a conversation at a dinner with Senator Hanson and Mr Ashby in Queensland late last year.

Hanson: "An MP said, 'It would actually take a massacre in Tasmania to change the gun laws in Australia.' Have you heard that? Have a look at it. It was said on the floor of Parliament."

Ashby: "Also that whole September 11 thing, too."

Hanson: "Those shots, they were precision shots. Check the number out. I've read a lot and I've read the book on it, Port Arthur. I read a book on it, on Port Arthur. A lot of questions there."